


Ghost Tales

by PaigeyPenguin



Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Canon-Typical Violence, Ghost Heather Chandler, Heather Duke is kind of a bitch, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I love her anyways, I'll add as I write more, JD isn't crazy, Multi, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-24 22:08:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13820418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaigeyPenguin/pseuds/PaigeyPenguin
Summary: Veronica Sawyer lives a mostly normal life, other than her recent induction into a group of gorgeous, popular girls all named Heather. Despite this, she finds herself craving something more, adventure and mystery, and this all seems to come in the new kid Jason Dean. JD is a chain-smoking trench coat wearing badass and Veronica hopes he can bring something new to her otherwise bland existence, while JD just wants to get a slushie and finally settle down in a town with his mom. Be careful what you wish for.(AU where JD's mom is alive and he's stable but Heather dies anyways- my summary sucks I'm sorry)





	1. Lick It Up

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fic for Heathers cause I noticed a lack of longer stories. I really love Chandler's character and I wanted to write about her being an actual ghost that could talk to more than just Veronica and then I wanted a scooby gang kinda thing. This is just the first chapter so it was actually pretty boring to write because a lot of it was following the script, but I'm super excited about getting onto what happens next. Also dumb name is dumb and I'm sorry.  
> -also i'm not writing the sex scene i'm sorry i am just awkward-  
> Disclaimer: I don't own Heathers, none of the characters are mine and the first chapter is based heavily off of a mix between the musical and movie! So basically nothing is mine.

Senior Year had just begun and it was already the most eventful year of Veronica Sawyer’s highschool career. During the first week Veronica pulled off a forgery that she could’ve done with her eyes closed and as a result was pulled into the world of the Heathers. The three beautiful, rich and popular girls were very different from Veronica’s last friends (Martha Dunnstock and Betty Finn) but they had proven to be a lot of fun. From lunchtime polls to croquet to mouthing off her parents for the first time in her life, it was as though everything has changed. As beautiful as she felt, sometimes blue was boring, but it was a small sacrifice to be solid Teflon, to sit at a table where instead of harassed she was envied and wanted.

“Veronica!” Heather Chandler snapped, pulling her out of her daze, “I need a forgery in Ram Sweeny’s handwriting, like yesterday. Heather! She’s going to need a table, bend over!” The Queen in Red demanded, regardless of the fact that there was a perfectly good table less than a foot away, but it was better to use the green girl’s back instead of arguing, it would be pointless and lead to the same result as just skipping the fight. Paying attention to exact wording, Veronica copied Ram’s sloppy writing with ease, but a pit in her stomach was growing.

While handing the paper over, she tried to sound as casual as possible, “So what’s this for?” The answer was sure to be one that she didn’t like, but she needed to know anyways.

Chandler merely winked at her as she waved Ram over, “Ram, could you be a dear and deliver this letter to Martha Dumptruck? She’s having a heavy flow and needed advice from my gyno.” Veronica leapt forward to try and stop this but the boys were already gone, disgusted at the mere thought of periods.

“Heather, this isn’t even funny. Martha’s had a crush on Ram since kindergarten, this would crush her,” Veronica felt like she had to stop this.

“Yeah, apparently they kissed on the basketball court, gross,” Heather McNamara made a face and Veronica shook her head quickly.

“Does it even matter? We were all friends in kindergarten so who cares? Martha hasn’t done anything to deserve this guys, why can’t you prank Country Club Courtney? She was the one who said that Heather’s ass was looking a little big.”

All three Heathers scrunched their noses up at the thought of the less popular girl who so desperately wanted to be one of them. It was common knowledge that the three girls held a certain distain for the try hard, but Veronica’s hopes were crushed when Chandler got a stubborn look on her face.

“Are we gonna have a problem? You’ve come so far, why now are you pulling on my dick? I’d normally slap your face off, and everyone here could watch, but I’m feeling nice so here’s some advice, listen up biatch!”

As confusing as Chandler’s word choice was, the girl usually didn’t care at all about swearing, Veronica knew it was time to tune out the rant about loyalties and how lucky she is to be one of them. It was clear that this was partially her fault, if she hadn’t been so clearly opposed she may have had a shot at convincing Chandler that it would be more fun to mess with someone else, but the girl was nothing if not stubborn so as soon as she realized that Veronica didn’t want her old friend hurt, Martha’s fate was set in stone.

“Oh my gosh, look who’s coming over,” Duke giggled, and Veronica realized it was Martha with a huge grin on her face. The three Heathers were obviously waiting to see what she would do but Veronica realized in that moment that she didn’t care about being popular anymore.

“Veronica look! Ram invited me to his homecoming party! Isn’t it exciting? I have to go tell Betty, she’ll be so happy too,” Martha waited for Veronica to reply, and her excitement was clear. Veronica couldn’t break her heart and tell her that Ram actually didn’t really care about her anymore, so instead of arguing she just gave the girl a weak smile.

“Colour me stoked!” A highfive to seal the deal, and Veronica had officially betrayed her oldest friend. It wasn’t a good feeling and she suddenly had the urge to sit down, but the Heathers were too busy patting her on the back and telling her that they always knew she could do it.

“You shouldn’t have bowed down to the diet coke heads, they’re gonna crush that girl,” a tall boy in a trench coat walked up to her as soon as the Heathers left to get food. Veronica went to open her mouth but was cut off, “You’ve clearly got a soul, you just have to work on keeping it clean,” the boy seemed a little disgusted at her actions and Veronica felt shame at what she had done. There was nothing that could be said to defend turning on Martha, but this unknown guy was judging her without having a proper conversation with her, “’We are all born marked for evil.”

The strange boy begins to walk away and Veronica realizes that he just quoted Baudelaire, something that she would have never thought a high school boy would be able to pull off or even know to do. Suddenly, this boy was much more impressive, “You can’t just quote Baudelaire at me and walk away, I didn’t catch your name.”

The mysterious boy just smirked at her and called out, “I didn’t throw it,” continuing to walk away from her. It was a matter of seconds before Kurt and Ram pulled their alpha male bullshit, clearly a little intimidated by the new kid. Surprisingly, the kid had a bite and Veronica watched in awe as the two boys were beaten up by the enigma that was the trench coat wearing boy. “Holy shit,” she mumbled, her eyes widening as she found herself kind of loving the fact that this boy was fighting. It felt wrong, but she was wondering if this guy would fight for her.

“Drool much?” Heather Chandler spat venomously, which awoke Veronica from her daze. The fight was over and the boy was already long gone, but she was standing to the side daydreaming like a total weirdo. “Whatever, just remember to send me a picture of the outfit you plan to wear to Ram’s homecoming party, I need to make sure we match and will look good in pictures without coming off as tacky.”

“Oh, and let me know if you want help choosing a hairstyle, I would totally love to help,” McNamara smiled sweetly at her and Veronica was reminded why the yellow Heather was usually her favourite. It wasn’t as though Veronica tried to pick favourites, Duke was just kind of rude all the time and Chandler was the mega bitch in control of everyone so it was hard to like her sometimes. Veronica sent the girl a smile and relished in the sound of the warning bell, an escape from the battlefield that is the cafeteria.

\------------time skipo-----------

“Okay Heather, barbecue corn nuts coming right up,” Veronica rolled her eyes as she walked into the 7/11, saving her energy for the upcoming party. It was going to be her first major party as a Heather and it was kind of exciting, in a messed up way. Before a party would’ve been the last place she ever wanted to be but now she had the protection of Heather Chandler and knew that no one would mess with her or make her do something she didn’t want to. When the door opened her eyes focused in on the one thing that mattered right now, the barbecue corn nuts.

“Greetings and salutations,” Veronica was so determined she hadn’t noticed the tall lingering presence, trench coat boy. Since the fight in the cafeteria she hadn’t see him around, so she just assumed that he was suspended for the fight, he would probably be back at school Monday, “Want a slurpee with that?”

Looking the boy up and down, Veronica made a decision that she knew would upset Heather Chandler but she quite honestly could not find a fuck to give. “No thanks, but maybe if you’re nice I’ll let you buy me a big gulp.”

The unnamed boy looked so offended she almost felt bad for her answer, but that was ridiculous, who cared that much about slushies? “That’s the equivalent of going to Micky Ds and ordering a salad, the slurpee is the signature dish of the house. Did you say cherry or lime?”

Veronica was already a fan of their back and forth, forgetting all about the blonde queen in the car who was impatiently waiting for her, “I said big gulp. I’m Veronica by the way, are you ever going to tell me your name?” She tried her best to play it casual and act as though she wasn’t excruciatingly curious about him, wanting to know every dumb detail that set him apart from the rest of the boring town she grew up in.

“I suppose I can allow the suspense to end. I’m Jason Dean, JD for short.” The way he said it made her feel as though it would be smart to avoid calling him Jason. JD was more mysterious anyways, it fit his atmosphere and the vibe he gave out.

“You know, JD, that stunt you pulled in the cafeteria was pretty extreme,” the way his name rolled off her tongue felt nice, she kind of wanted to keep saying it, but she knew that would be really weird.

“Well,” he drawled, looking her up and down in a way that sent shivers to her spine, “The extreme always seems to make an impression.”

“So what’s a Baudelaire quoting badass like you doing in Sheerwood Ohio?” Veronica was curious, they didn’t get new students all that often and it was kind of a big deal that this guy came to their school a few weeks in.

“Ah, my mom is from here so the two of us moved back,” he looked a little uncomfortable so Veronica decided that it was better not to push it. Some people just had shit they didn’t like to talk about and she could respect that.

Probably the only time her interrupting was actually helpful, she heard Heather Chandler call from the car basically telling her to hurry up. While the last thing she wanted to do was leave this conversation, it gave her something to talk about. “Well, everyone’s life has static. For example, I don’t really like my friends,” she knew the longer she waited, the more annoyed Heather would be and an angry Heather wasn’t good for anyone’s health.

“I don’t like your friends either,” there was a moment of comfortable silence between the two before JD seemed to have an idea, “Bag the party, hang out here with me.”

With a little laugh, Veronica looked around pretending to be unimpressed, “7/11, swanky first date,” she teased with a blush, taking delight in the way his eyes widened and his cheeks turned a little pink. Normally, she wasn’t any good at flirting but something about JD made her comfortable, or maybe it was the newfound confidence she had thanks to the Heathers, probably a mix of both.

JD looked affronted but quickly regained his composure and looked around at the shelves and freezers with a strange look, “I happen to love this place, for your information.”

“How come? They’re everywhere, and all the same, you could go anywhere in the states and each 7/11 would feel the same,” consistency was boring, it was easy to get comfortable and Veronica liked the unknown, it probably explained the interest in JD.

“The Heathers are the same, it’s probably the only original thing about this school,” JD seemed annoyed by that but quickly moved on, “But anyways, that’s why I like it. I’ve been through ten high schools, I probably couldn’t tell you anything about most of them, we were always on the move for my dads job. I never really bothered because we would leave every six weeks and it just hurt to get attached. My mom says this time it will be different though, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have bothered talking to you,” Veronica felt both sad for his life and a little offended, but he looked at her again and shook his head, “Actually I  might have. You’re fairly interesting and I don’t think I would’ve let myself miss out on that, not that it matters anyways. But yeah, the consistency was that every town had a 7/11 and they were all the same as the last. The slushies are fucking delicious and they helped numb the fact that I was basically a nomad, I’m sure they can help you forget about Heather Chandler, wanna try?” JD held the straw towards her and Veronica allowed herself to be tempted.

Of course, if her tongue got coloured due to the slushie, Heather would kill her, so instead she shook her head, “Does your mommy know you drink all that crap?” It felt like his mom was a safe topic, whenever her had mentioned her he had gotten a small smile on his face.

“Yeah, she doesn’t care though, figures she lucked out with a slurpee addiction rather than a cocaine one, especially with the shithole my dad is,” JDs eyes widened and shook his head almost immediately, “Okay, forget I said that.” There was a slurping noise and then a loud “SHIT!” that drew the attention of the cashier. Veronica gave the worker her best smile and turns to JD, deciding to take a swig.

A few seconds after she cries out, “Oh son of a bitch!” just in time for Heather Chandler herself to walk in. Veronica gave JD a look to try and project her apology before running to Chandler.

“This should cover it,” Heather threw a ten on the counter and stomped out, clearly upset with Veronica. The brunette scurried after her and quickly sat in the passenger seat, trying to act normal in case Chandler let it go, which there was no chance of.

“Listen, you were throwing your panties at that trench coat wearing loser, just like you were in the cafeteria when he fought Kurt and Ram, and it’s not my business, but I’ve seen you’re house and I’m not sure you can afford replacement ones. This is the first party that actually matters with you as a Heather, and I need you to be the coolest bitch there. When you were a loser nobody you could do whatever you wanted, but now all eyes will be on you, so talking to people like him in public is not a good idea, okay?”

“Yes Heather,” Veronica robotically replied, deciding that she would try to ignore all the insults that Heather had thrown in there. This night was going to be fun and she definitely wouldn’t rather be spending it in a 7/11 with JD because that was dumb. Ram Sweeny’s party was going to be epic and everyone would be talking about it for the weeks to come, it would be a test as to if she could handle being a Heather, and it was not one she could afford to lose.

“Alright slut, we’re here, so it’s showtime,” Chandler got out of the car and waited for Veronica to join her, they needed to appear as a unit so Heather Chandler could show off her newest project. Apparently there would be a select few from Washington and Jefferson so Heather wanted the world to see what she had managed to do with the little misfit that was Veronica.

It was dark, smelled of sweat, and obscenely crowded but Veronica felt a thousand times cooler just being there. Almost instantly Heather McNamara pulled her into a crowd to do shots, and Veronica just let go. Apparently she was doing shots wrong, but she couldn’t find it in her to care. She was already starting to get drunk when she found Country Club Courtney smoking a joint, and Veronica almost demanded a hit, which she got.

Ram was doing a dumb display and humping a pig and then suddenly he was humping Heather Duke who did not look impressed so Veronica knew she needed to save her, “Yo, Ram emergency! I just saw some freshmen sneaking over the pool fence!”

Ram was as predictable as he is dumb and ran off in chase of the freshmen, leaving Duke alone and forgetting all about what was happening, “I didn’t need your help you know,” Duke gave Veronica the finger and in a moment of brilliance Veronica thought of a really funny joke.

“Aw, thanks Heather but I don’t really need to puke right now,” she giggled and gestured to stuffing her own finger down her throat, “Get it? Cause like, you throw up,” she laughed so hard it hurt a little and Duke looked a little upset but Veronica was having way too much fun to care.

Kurt brings her a jello shot and she downs it without a second thought because being drunk is really fun and there’s a couple making out on the couch, but the hands start going under shirts and Veronica made a face because she was pretty sure that’s what people called third base.

“Hey Veronica, you are looking good tonight,” a cute boy named Craig walked by and winked at her and Veronica felt so bubbly that she almost squealed, forgetting about the couple on the couch. Martha had just walked in so Veronica ran to her old best friend and tugged on her hand, “Oh my gosh, a hot guy just smiled at me and he wasn’t even mocking me!”

Martha did not seem to be as excited as Veronica felt but mustered a smile for her anyways, “That’s really cool! I have to bring this to Ram, it’s sparkling cider!” Martha was suddenly excited and that sobered Veronica up. The Heathers were in a corner giggling and pointing but Veronica couldn’t figure out what she could do to stop this.

Ram spat the cider in Martha’s face and it was as though Veronica was watching it all through a screen. The Heathers blindfolded Martha and began to talk about some game, but as soon as they brought out the pig with Martha’s name on it she snapped out of it.

“Hey, Heather give that to me,” Veronica tried to tug on the piñata but soon it escalated into a tug of war between Veronica and the three Heathers. Surprisingly, Veronica managed to win and clutched the piñata to her chest, “God, Heather, what is your damage? If you want it that badly, you can swim for it,” and Veronica threw it into the pool. The party went silent except for the music, no one wanted to be the one to make a noise.

Poor, innocent Martha spoke up, “Guys? What’s going on?” The poor girl just looked so confused and Veronica wanted to help, so she rushed over and took the blindfold off her head.

“Martha, just go home, please. I can explain everything later, you should just go home right now,” Martha went to protest but looked around and realized to an extent what was happening. It broke Veronica’s heart to see her run away, and she only hoped that their friend Betty would be able to cheer Martha up. “Well, we gave it a shot, I’m officially resigning from the Lipgloss Gestapo, I’m going back to civilian life.”

Heather Chandler let out a laugh and spun her around, but before Veronica could warn her about spinning, Chandler was already on a rant. “No, you don’t get to go back. You’re not a nobody anymore, on Monday you’ll be an ex-somebody. Transfer to Jefferson, transfer to Washington, because come Monday, not even the losers will play their reindeer games with you.” Heather spun her back away, but the motion made Veronica feel dizzy.

Before she knew what was happening, vomit was pouring onto Heather Chandler and there was a screech and then a tone so scary Veronica would probably have nightmares, “I raised you up from nothing, and this is the thanks I get? I get paid in puke?”

Veronica straightened up and in a moment of complete insanity, she looked Heather Fucking Chandler right in the eye and said, “Lick it up, baby. Lick it up.”

Heather just smiled sweetly and looked Veronica up and down, “I know who I’m eating lunch with on Monday, do you?”

It hit Veronica that she really didn’t, she wouldn’t be able to sit with Martha and Betty even if they let her, because the guilt of her past actions would weigh too heavy. As she looked around the party and realized no one would look back at her, she ran out the door and down the street unsure of where she would go.

As she was pondering every single decision she had ever made that had brought her to this moment, she was also plotting ways to get out of this, and there wasn’t really any. As she considered riding up to Seattle, she remembering a certain boy with trench coat who owned a motorbike, and said motorbike was seen parked just up the street. Veronica decided that it must be fate, so she forgot about all consequences and walked straight through to his backyard. There was a fence and a window right above it that she could see JD in. Before she had a chance to back out, she was climbing the fence and breaking his window lock, stumbling in through the window.

JD was either a light sleeper or hadn’t fallen asleep yet because he sat straight up and widened his eyes, “Veronica? What are you doing in my room?” The boy looked a little too amused considering the situation, but Veronica also couldn’t care less.

“Basically Heather decided to ruin my social life because I stood up for Martha and then I puked on her and I was walking and saw your bike and if I’m going to be dead in 30 hours I may as well have a fun time on death row. You’re going to chug that mountain dew and then we’re going to fuck until we’re broken because I find you fucking beautiful and we can both forget what’s going on out in that fucked up world and focus on us right now. Lose your tighty whities, I’m hot and pissed and on the pill, so let’s go.”

JD stared at her, as if in awe, then he pinched himself before staring at her again, until finally he nodded and reached out for her hand. “That works for me.”

\-----------------chugging mountain dew-------------------------

Veronica woke with a start, only to see Heather Chandler staring back at her. “What the fuck?” she mumbled blinked a couple times, but the Red Queen didn’t go away, instead she only smirked. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m everywhere, I’m oxygen, but that is not the topic of this conversation. Were going to talk about how you fucked trench coat boy and now everyone is going to know that Miss Veronica Sawyer is actually nothing but a good for nothing whore.”

“I don’t understand, why do you want to hurt me so badly Heather?” Veronica was a little pissed at how much of a vendetta her supposed friend had against her. It felt as though the blonde princess did everything in her power to hurt Veronica and make sure her life was a living hell.

“Oh because I can, it’ll just be so very!” Heather Chandler laughed but it slowly grew deeper and the word very seemed to repeat over and over again. Everyone she knew was appearing and chanting ‘very’ over and over again until she was screaming for it to stop.

“Veronica!” Her eyes flew open and everyone was gone, only a concerned JD was left looking unsure of what to do.

“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry, nightmare. I have to go apologize to Heather, fuck I need to hurry before she decides I waited too long,” Veronica mumbled and got up, a woman on a mission.

“Last night you said you were done with the Wicked Witch of Westerburg,” JD groaned and fell back, watching Veronica as she frantically got dressed.

“Yeah, and what a fantasy that way, a world without Heather, but this is reality and I have to go kiss her ass and pray that she finds it in her heart to forgive me for puking all over her,” Veronica hug her head and felt like she was going to cry. Suddenly there were arms wrapped around her and she felt a little better.

“As much as I hate the fact that you think you need to go there to apologize, I will go with you so you don’t have to face it alone,” JD was mumbling into her hair and her heart swelled, she couldn’t believe that she got so lucky.

“You’d really do that? Thank you so much,” Veronica kissed his cheek, then blushed remembering what happened last night, “By the way, you were my first.”

JD nodded with a blush, “It was mine too, but we don’t have time. You’re going to have to sneak out the window because we can’t afford to explain why you were here to my mother, and I’ll tell her I’m going for a morning ride or something, okay?”

With a smile, Veronica kissed his cheek and ducked out the window, walking to his bike once she was safely on the ground. It was a little exciting to get to ride on his bike, as she had never done anything like that before and her parents would be absolutely pissed if they ever found out. The whole situation with JD was a little confusing, but she didn’t regret anything that happened. Lost in her thought, she didn’t hear him come out and didn’t notice until he poked her. When she looked up he had a finger to his lip in a signal to be quiet, presumably so his mom wouldn’t hear what was going on. The two of them climbed on the bike and motored off towards Heathers, silent except for Veronica giving directions. Even though he was coming with her, she knew that JD was a little upset that she was bowing down to Heather and allowing her to control what Veronica did with her life. As sweet as it was that he was concerned, Veronica knew that there was no point in arguing with the inevitable.

“Wait, what is going on?” Veronica mumbled when she saw the cops gathered around Heather’s house. As soon as JD parked, she ran to the door and knocked, worried about what could have possibly happened. JD was right behind her by the time Heather’s mother opened the door.

“Mrs. Chandler,” Veronica was confused, “It’s Sunday, why aren’t you visiting Heather’s grandmother? Is everything okay?” Veronica had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, the cops obviously weren’t there for fun, and Mrs. Chandler never missed the Sunday visit.

“N-no, nothing will ever be okay again,” Mrs. Chandler let out, tears threatening to pour out of her eyes, the poster child of grief.

“What is it ma’am?” JD asked, his hand firm on Veronica’s back. She was thankful because she didn’t know if she dared ask, and she felt as though her knees may buckle at any moment.

Mrs. Chandler looked at Veronica before bursting into tears, unable to speak. An officer who was in the living room came forward and looked at the two teens, sighing deeply as though his words were about to change everything.

“Heather Chandler is dead.”


	2. Fuck Me Gently With a Chainsaw

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica and JD reel after the news of Heather Chandler's death and try to understand what could have possibly happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hii! It's 1AM and I should really be asleep but I also wanted to update so here we are. This chapter has a lot of fluff, mostly because I really wanted the "big reveal" at the end (big reveal=finally starting plot that no one is surprised by). Okay, so I guess go for it? Here's chapter 2.

The entire world seemed to cool when the officer muttered those four words, it felt impossible. Heather Chandler couldn’t die because she was the most stubborn, and the strongest person Veronica knew. The only thing that made the entire thing feel real was Mrs. Chandler’s tears, the pure grief that she was emanating was palpable. Veronica heard JD gulp and steady his hand on her back, as if knowing that she could break down at any moment.

“How?” JD was the only person who would have been able to ask, yet Veronica could barely make out voices, everything felt as though it was fake and she was watching it happen. There were so many answers she wanted, she needed to understand what could have possibly happened to the girl who was so full of life the night before, even if the last thing she had said to her was “Lick it up.”

“Suicide. We found a note, did you notice anything off about Heather last night?” The officer questioned, and Veronica felt even more sick. There was no way that Heather Chandler killed herself, it just wasn’t possible.

Veronica looked to Mrs. Chandler and realized that she probably didn’t need to be here for this, “I didn’t notice anything, she seemed normal. Is there any chance we could see the note or talk somewhere else? I could make tea,” she gave the woman a weak smile. For moment she allowed herself to question why Mr. Chandler was missing, but he usually was, Heather always complained that he was a dick who didn’t care about his family.

Mrs. Chandler just nodded and moved to let the two of them through the door. Veronica led JD to the kitchen and busied herself with the kettle, unwilling to let herself think about what was going on. Thankfully, JD seemed to understand and just allowed her to continue pretending that this was avoidable, that if she didn’t say anything about what was going on that it might not be real. As soon as the tea was done, JD helped her carry it to the living room and they sat down with Mrs. Chandler, letting silence overtake them until a younger officer came up to them.

“You had asked for the note? I have it here, but I have to warn you that the contents might be shocking, it’s quite unique.” Veronica wasn’t surprised by that, Heather wouldn’t let her death be anything less than an event that would stand out from the other teenage suicides happening all over the world.

“I have to know,” she mumbled, “I need to understand what could have possibly happened,” she tried to be polite but ended up nearly ripping it out of the mans hand, watching him rush away nervously. As she began to read, she noticed that something was off but couldn’t exactly place it.

_Dear World,_

_You pampered me, made me feel special, but it wasn’t enough. I knew I was too good for this world and that no one saw me as different from the other rich bitches. I’m above this shit, and I couldn’t take it anymore. Your refusal to acknowledge me for what I am drove me to this, so it’s time to expose you all._

_Westerburg is not a good place, not just because you’re all totally boring, but because there isn’t a single mind that can function properly. We throw parties and get drunk but that’s just because none of you have ever had an original thought and don’t know how to live up to anything but clichés._

_My friends and I seemed perfect, and I was, they weren’t. Let’s start with Heather Duke, shall we? Did you know that she pukes up everything she eats in a vain attempt to look half as good as I did? I don’t think she’s kept a meal down since I graced her with my presence and allowed her to become a Heather, and she can’t even be normal. Next is the bimbo Heather McNamara, the epitome of the dumb cheerleader archetype. I’m sure every single one of you have seen her prancing around Westerburg with whatever guy will take her, but I have a secret I’m dying to share. Ha, get it? Anyways, our sweet little McNamara is a lesbian, like full on wants to make out with other girls lesbian. I know you’re shocked, I was too but I couldn’t ruin my reputation by telling anyone, they might think I was one too by association. To round off my friends we have Miss Perfect, Veronica Sawyer. This one is not like the others, she’s not a Heather and she’s new to our world, so how much could I have? Everyone loves her and thinks she’s so great, even though I made her great, but she’s actually just as much of a bitch as the rest of us. I’m sure you don’t remember but she used to hang out with Betty Finn and Martha Dumptruck, and to test her loyalty to the Heathers I had her betray both of them. That thing in the cafeteria with Martha and Ram? Perfect Veronica wrote the note that prompted her to go talk to her kindergarten boyfriend. Betty’s betrayal was less obvious, most of you won’t even know this happened, but Veronica told us about her weird obsession with books, so we went into her locker and replaced all her textbooks with weird German porn magazines. That was a classic, and without Veronica we wouldn’t have been able to do it, so thanks babe!_

_There’s someone else I need to call out in this note, and I saved the best for last. My own father is fucking his secretary, and while I’m sure that doesn’t mean much to most of you, his secretary is 19, fresh out of Westerburg, the old Queen some would say, Elizabeth Marrow. I always knew Elizabeth was jealous of me but I never thought she would sleep with my dad. My poor mother was oblivious of course, she didn’t want to believe that my own father would cheat, but he did, with a girl who’s barely legal. Fuck you both, I hope you’re happy together._

_There you have it, my note to a world that didn’t deserve me. I hope everyone at Westerburg grows the fuck up and actually does something with their pathetic lives because right now you’re all pathetic and I spent my last moments laughing at you._

_Love,_

_Heather Chandler._

Veronica looked over at JD and shook her head, they needed to get out of there in case she had a full on meltdown. There was something super fishy about this whole thing, everything Heather did was calculated and writing something like this would guarantee that people would be bitter and hate her. There was no way Heather would want that, even if Veronica was a little pissed that the note talked about her betraying her friends.

“We really need to go, I am so sorry for your loss Mrs. Chandler,” JD didn’t even bother making up an excuse but Veronica couldn’t find it in herself to care. Mrs. Chandler just nodded with a slight wave bye and the two left very quickly, the house was a mess of emotion and Veronica needed to talk about what the note said without the girl’s own mother around, there was something that just wasn’t adding up.

While they were leaving she saw JD quietly exchange a couple words with an officer, but she didn’t pay much attention to what was happening. They got on his bike and sped away from Chandler’s house without looking back. “Where are we heading?” She asked as loudly as she could so he could hear her over the roaring motor.

“The park, I saw one on the way here and it looked beautiful, I figure you could use something beautiful right now,” JD called back and Veronica blushed. A stupid voice in her head popped up saying that he was beautiful but it wasn’t the time to be sappy, her worst enemy and her best friend had both just died and she needed to think about everything rationally, because she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

Once they arrived, he took her hand and led her to a big tree that they sat under, if it were a different day she would have been in awe at how romantic the entire thing was, but instead she was looking at the kids on the play structure and hoping for their innocence to stay intact, hoping that this tragedy wouldn’t change their lives as much as it would the rest of the towns.

Three girls were walking around with their hands on their hips, and Veronica saw them push another girl off the swing and take it for themselves. A pain shot through her heart and she buried her head in JD’s chest, not wanting to think about how even little girls had Heathers and Marthas.

“My mom tried to kill herself,” JD blurted out, and Veronica looked up at him in shock, “I caught her trying to walk into a building before my dad blew it up, that’s what he does, but I made a fuss and someone stopped her. I know it’s not the same because she didn’t go through with it, and I was younger but I understand the confusion that comes with all of this.” Veronica saw him try to give her a weak smile, and just felt overwhelming care for him and what he was trying to do. Without a thought she looked up and gave him a quick kiss. It was sweet and over too soon but it was still perfect.

“God, I don’t know what I did to deserve you,” Veronica smiled at him, afraid of the feelings that she had after only knowing him for a short while. They sat in a comfortable silence for a little, just watching the kids play and the seagulls swooping down to get any scraps of food that they could, before Veronica had a thought. “You know, that note is super weird, it doesn’t even sound like Heather and the style is too bold. Heather Chandler was a bitch upfront but this note is sure to make people hate her, and now that she isn’t here to do damage control she’ll be remembered as a bitch. I can’t see her wanting to be anything but loved in death.”

JD looked thoughtful as he agreed, “The exposing part seems off as well. I understand wanting to get revenge on her dad, or maybe even you after what happened at the party, but the other two Heathers were never anything but loyal to her. Alienating them would mean that no one would be left to continue on her memory and make sure people loved her.”

“It’s almost as though she wanted people to not look any deeper, or to forget about her in a week and there is literally no way that Heather would ever want that. I must admit that she could be a little insane at times it’s just so hard to see Heather doing anything to jeopardize her reputation, even if she was about to die,” Veronica frowned but shook her head, “We need to get our minds off this, or at least I do. We can go get slushies? I’ll even pay.”

A kid’s screech could be heard in the background as JD laughed and stood up, holding a hand out to her with a huge grin, “You don’t need to bribe me, although since you offered I will take you up on the slushie. We can call it payment for waking me up last night,” he pulled her up with a stupid smirk.

“As if you didn’t enjoy it,” Veronica felt her cheeks burn and refused to make eye contact with him. Admittedly what had happened was very out of character, almost certainly to blame on the alcohol that had been flowing through her system at the time.

“Oh no, darling, it was quite enjoyable,” he laced his fingers in hers and she felt her heart speed up a little, but felt it was silly to be so excited over such a small thing, but she could already tell it was the little things with JD that would make her feel special.

The two walked through town making small talk, thankfully uninterrupted by anyone who had heard about Heather Chandler’s death and wanted to offer condolences. As much as Veronica loved the banter that JD provided, she couldn’t get her mind off of Heather’s suicide. The more she thought about it, the more unlikely it seemed that it was a suicide but that made no sense. As much as people hated Heather they also feared her and respected her for who she was. Besides, the note was enough for the cops, but it kept nagging at the back of her mind.

“Ronnie, I mean, Veronica? Sorry, that just slipped out, you just seem a little out of it,” JD waved his hand in front of her face and she snapped out of whatever she had been in, feeling a little sheepish that she was ignoring him.

“Ronnie’s fine, if you want, and I’m sorry, it’s just that something feels so off about this whole thing. I wish we could get a look at the note again. There’s no way that we could go back and ask, but it just feels off, but maybe I’m just looking too deep into this.”

JD smiled softly at her and shook his head, “If you think something is off then I trust you, even if it leads to nothing we should still look into it. Worst case scenario we waste a couple hours pretending to be detectives instead of acting like other teenagers,” with a shrug he was already walking away from the 7/11, seemingly having somewhere in mind.

“Um, where are we going? We haven’t even got you a refill on your slushie.” It had only been ten minutes but the drink was almost done, and JD had told her that it was rare for him to only get one of the sugary treats during a visit.

JD turned around with a smirk that Veronica knew was going to get her into trouble, “I have a plan, my dear Veronica, we just might have to bend a couple rules.”

\------------------time skippo---------------------

“This is definitely illegal,” Veronica hissed, climbing through Heather Chandler’s window. There was little to no chance that the note was going to be placed back here anyways, but JD insisted that the cops would have taken pictures and left it here for Mrs. Chandler to deal with, not that she was in any state to come into her daughters room. “Wouldn’t this be considered tampering with a crime scene?”

JD climbed in after her and look around, “That’s what loopholes are for. While it would be considered breaking and entering, this isn’t a crime scene because there wasn’t a crime committed. There was a suicide so there’s no investigation that will take place.”

Veronica had a moment where she was both impressed and a little scared that JD talked himself around the law like that, but she let it go to search the room for the note, or anything else off. Heather’s body was gone and the glass was mostly cleaned up, but Veronica could see that they had missed a few pieces here or there. Heather would have flipped if she caught them wearing shoes in her room, but Veronica was not going to cut her feet for Heather’s memory.

“It’s so clean that I would almost say too clean, but this is Heather we’re dealing with. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I can see her being a total neat freak,” JD was trying to speak quietly as to not alert anyone to their presence, but Veronica figured he probably shouldn’t be talking at all. She nodded to him and continued to scan the room with her eyes, despite what JD had said about this technically not being a crime scene, she wasn’t going to jail for Heather, especially not since it was Queen H herself who loved to remind Veronica how awful she looked in orange.

A piece of red stuck out and she saw the note they were looking for, but right before she could alert JD she heard footsteps on the stairs. All in one motion she grabbed the paper and JD, dragging them into Heather’s closet and closing the door.

JD and her made eye contact and she could tell that he was trying not to breath, all of her worst nightmares were coming through. The door opened and Veronica heard heavy footsteps, but she didn’t dare move to try and see who it is.

“Liza, it’s going to be okay. You know I have the money to pay those cops off, and I can destroy the note. I’m in her room right now,” there was a pause, “Of course I’m allowed in here, I own the damn house. I can take care of this and if she ever tries to tell people about us it will be her word against mine.” Veronica recognized the voice as Heather’s dad and felt sick. It sounded as if he was going through things, but after a few minutes he let out a loud groan. “It isn’t here, they must have taken it. No, I don’t know what we’re going to do but I know it’s not going to be good if this gets out.”

Mr. Chandler finally left and Veronica waited another minute or so before bursting out of the closet. Any talking could be done later, she made a quick move to the window, gesturing JD to follow. The two of them climbed down and ran all the way back to 7/11. They had left the bike there so they didn’t have to worry about parking it or have it being seen. As soon as Veronica felt like they were far enough away she let out a loud swear.

“Fuck, they’ll be looking for this now, since Mr. Chandler is going to ask the cops if he can see it and then try to pay them off to keep their mouths shut,” the whole situation had suddenly gotten really messy.

“I think we need to slip it to someone anonymously, someone who Mr. Chandler would never think to ask but would spread it around school in a heartbeat. Regardless of if the note is real, it’s clear that his affair is actually going on and that sick fuck doesn’t deserve to get away with it.” JD took out a cigarette and took a drag slowly, as bad as they were for you JD sure looked hot smoking one.

“Give me a hit,” she mumbled and took the smoke from him, breathing in the smoke before handing it back, “Our best bet is Mrs. Fleming. She’ll see the note as an opportunity to learn from Heather’s mistake and mass distribute it to the students as a twisted way of trying to help,” Veronica made a face at the thought of their guidance counselor. Her being awful at her job would actually come in handy for once, but everyone would also know that Veronica betrayed Betty and Martha, and that sucked.

Without another thought, Veronica sat down and unfolded the paper, patting beside her for JD to do the same. Her eyes scanned the words and she got the same feeling that something wasn’t right. Unfortunately, JD wasn’t going to be much help in  that aspect since he barely knew Heather and only saw her as the bitch that the paper presented. It was hard to blame him, after how Heather presented herself to the world, but Veronica knew that there was more to her.

“You know,” JD focused on a particular sentence, “I can’t see why she would expose Heather McNamara after death. If she truly believed that people would judge her for being friends with a lesbian then she would want the secret to die with her so her reputation would be saved and no one would ever find out.”

Veronica nodded, “And while Heather was straight up cruel to Duke at times, this feels far. The number one rule was that we had to look out for each other, we could cross each other but as soon as an outsider called Mac dumb or said Duke needed to get her head out of her books, Chandler would literally ruin their life. I could be naïve but I just can’t see Heather going out of her way to hurt us like this.”

A pain in her head flared up and she rubbed her temples, trying to make sense of everything. It felt like she had been going in circles all day and that the answer was so obvious, that it was right in front of her eyes but she just couldn’t see it.

“Okay, but let’s assume we’re overanalyzing all of this and Heather really did have it out for her friends at the time of her death. Is there anything else that feels strange? Are we just trying to find good in a girl who maybe didn’t have any,” Veronica sent JD a glare when he said that, and he put his hands up in surrender, “I’m not saying that’s the case, I just want to look at this from every perspective.”

He was making sense, Veronica knew that it was possible that she was desperate to find something a little nicer in Heather, something that would redeem the girl in the eyes of the public, maybe a code or something that she left in her note for those who truly knew her. The girl was clever, even if she refused to show it at most times, and it wouldn’t be completely crazy if she was just being as extra in death as she was in life. Fuck, even her handwriting has always been extra, she spent time making sure that it was perfect so no one could find fault with something as petty as her letters.

“That’s it! JD, I know Heather, and this is going to sound insane, but look, she erased this and it’s still visible. There is literally no way that she wouldn’t write a whole new note, especially not if it was the last thing she was going to be presenting to the world.”

JD looked unsure and she couldn’t blame him, it was hardly proof and a little far fetched at best. “Couldn’t she have just been rushed or ready to get out of this world? The cops said she did it by drinking drain cleaner, it seems rushed and messy for someone who was so determined to be perfect. It may just be that she was ready to get out of the world.”

“Drain cleaner? That’s impossible. I saw glass in her room but I assumed she slit her wrists, even though it would be messy it would also go with her aesthetic, the red contrasting with her skin would have been beautiful in a messed up way.” Veronica shivered at the image in her mind but was more determined than ever, “Drain cleaner is blue, that’s not her colour and it could have stained her lips, that would ruin her funeral and she wouldn’t go out looking her best.”

Now it was vital that she find something, because it was becoming more and more clear that there was more to the picture. It was sick to think about what the alternative was, but Veronica knew that she needed to uncover the truth, for Heather more than anyone.

“Heather didn’t write this note,” she mumbled and looked up at JD with her eyes huge, “Before you call me crazy, I know Heather’s handwriting better than my own. I feel so stupid for not noticing! It’s close, but her letters are a little too curved and bubby. Every single line had to be perfectly straight, the letters needed to look as though were traced from a book designed to teach kids how to write letters. These two ‘f’s are slanted and their line is connected, Heather would have never allowed that.”

JD looked frightened at this revelation, “Wouldn’t that mean?” It was like he was unable to finish the sentence, and Veronica didn’t blame him. They sat in silence for a moment before a voice brought them out of their shock.

“Well fuck me gently with a chainsaw, Nancy Drew finally figured it out, “ a familiar voice laughed, so eerie that Veronica was afraid to turn around. JD had a look on his face that could only be described as pure fear, and she wasn’t eager to replicate it. “Well, aren’t you going to take a look? Red Dawn doesn’t seem to be able to look away.”

Veronica slowly turned around and standing there was a long legged blonde with a silk red bathrobe on, her perfectly red lips upturned in a smirk with blue dripping down her lips in a way that she still somehow pulled off.

“Surprised bitch?” Heather Chandler drawled with confidence that only she could pull off, “Wipe those looks off your faces, we have work to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhhhh, I'm so excited for the next chapter so I can basically just write Heather Chandler being a bitch to everyone. I'll probably update next friday again so I can start a schedule, I would update more frequently but I don't want to put pressure on myself when life gets busy so I figure that I can just have chapters ready to go if I have an off week. ANYWAYS, thank you for reading and let me know any thoughts or critiques :).


	3. Don't Be a Pillowcase, Veronica

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dead Heather is back and better than ever, ready to solve some mysteries with our favourite couple of dorks. Also Heather McNamara is a cinnamon roll.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this almost 3 hours late? Yes. Do I have an excuse? Not really. Have I been watching Arrested Development too much? Probably. Anyways, here's chapter 3, I hope you enjoy. I'm not sure how much I like it but it is what it is.

Veronica Sawyer could not believe what she was seeing, it was impossible because Heather Chandler was dead. Yet, here she was speaking to the two of them as though nothing was wrong, as if her mother wasn’t currently having a breakdown because her daughter died, and her husband is sleeping with his secretary. The blonde looked all too proud of herself, always having a flair for the dramatics. Veronica had always thought that if theatre kids weren’t ‘nerds’ that Heather Chandler would be the star of every show.

“You’re alive,” JD stated the seemingly obvious, but there was no way that could be true when the police had taken Heather away from her house and to the morgue to do an official assessment.

Chandler smirked and rolled her eyes, “Close but no cigar. I really am dead, as much as that fucking sucks. It took waking up and looking down at the cops putting their dirty hands all over my body to realize but it’s sadly true. I think I’m a spirit or something? It’s kind of confusing because I was wishing that my mom could see me, and suddenly she was screaming about ghosts. I was curious, so I wished that she couldn’t see me anymore and she calmed down, still a little spooked. I’ve been waiting for you and trench coat to put two and two together, so I could show off.”

“I don’t believe you,” Veronica shook her head, so Heather reached out to touch her, but it went straight through. It felt like ice, a horrible feeling that Veronica never wanted to experience again, “Never mind, please don’t do that anymore.”

JD was looking thoughtful more than anything, clearly trying to figure out the semantics of the entire thing, “If you’re a ghost, then why are you the only one? If people were able to show themselves then wouldn’t they just tell their families they were still here and live eternally?”

“Ugh, it was totally cliché, but my grandmother came to me and mentioned something about needing justice to pass through. I’m going to assume that whatever is on the other side is kickass, because otherwise I would just stay here and be immortal and let people see me. Plus, I’m super annoyed that whoever killed me left that awful note and thinks they can walk free,” Heather scoffed at the word free and Veronica allowed herself to feel a twinge of pity, something she never thought she would be feeling for Heather Chandler.

“Why don’t you just appear to the cops and tell them who killed you? It would be super simple, and you could move on?” Veronica was still confused as to why she was showing herself to them.

“Don’t be a pillowcase, Veronica. The cops in this town do nothing, and I don’t even know who killed me anyways. I was asleep, and my memories are totally blurry. I figure you’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met so if anyone is going to solve the mystery, it’ll be you. Plus, nothing brings together a couple like solving a murder mystery!” The last part was said with an overly cheerful tone that made Veronica want to puke a little bit. Nice Heather Chandler never managed to seem sincere.

At their disbelieving looks, Heather gave them an unimpressed once over, “Have you never watched a murder mystery? Or a film noir? The detective and the piece of hot ass he brings in always end up together. It’s just science, I thought a genius like you would understand that.”

Veronica didn’t dignify that with a response.

“Anyways,” JD mumbled, seeming to share Veronica’s sentiment when it came to the absurd notion that Heather was trying to sell them, “So you want us to find out who killed you so that you can die properly, but you have no idea what happened at all so it could be pretty much anyone,” JD looked like he was going to scream and Veronica couldn’t blame him. Not only was the biggest bitch she had ever met coming to them for help from beyond the grave, but they also had nowhere to start.

“Probably not anyone, like I don’t think it was my mom. That woman is such a mess right now and she wouldn’t’ have the stomach for murder.” Chandler said that in a way that made Veronica’s stomach turn a little bit.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Veronica looked at the blonde and wondered for a moment if she was cold in only a robe, which made her wonder if ghosts even got cold which was so absurd that she started laughing and couldn’t stop,

“Oh, great! She’s lost it! Veronica if you go crazy I’ll have to ask Heather for help and she is literally the dumbest person I’ve ever met so you better fucking snap out of it.” As bitchy as the words were, Heather’s tone was frantic and quick, and Veronica realized that the girl might actually be scared.

“Sorry,” she shook her head and placed her hand over JD’s, which he had moved to her arm when she began to laugh. “I just had a bizarre thought, but I guess we can help you, we kind of have to right? Why don’t you start by telling us everything that happened that night after I left, don’t leave anything out because it might be important.”

“Okay, but you can’t be a bitch about it okay?” Chandler took a deep breath, “So basically after you decided it would be fun to hurl all over me, I had to do damage control because even if I’m always super fucking hot, guys don’t like throw up. I took off my shirt and shoes and socks because I figured it was a party and no one would care and then Heather and Heather stripped too so I wouldn’t be the only one and probably because Heather was jealous of the attention I was getting. But then David showed up and he was all over me but he’s a Remington boy so who gives a fuck, but he also brought Brad who was expecting to get to fool around with you, but you were gone so Brad just said he was going to find another bitch and we didn’t see him again. As soon as he was gone David and I made out super hardcore but I had been puked on so unsurprisingly my libido wasn’t super high, so I told him I was gonna grab Heather and Heather and we would just head out. The asshole totally flipped for no reason and told me I was being a tease, so I slapped him and told him that he was not about to guilt me into pity fucking him. I kind of regretted that because he’s a hot college guy but I knew I was hot enough to get away with it and he would be calling the next morning begging me to forgive him. I couldn’t find Heather so I told Heather that I was leaving and they could find their own ride home, but Heather had her tongue down Kurt’s throat so she didn’t even care. I went home after that feeling gross and annoyed and I just showered and went to bed. I vaguely remembered waking up in the middle of the night feeling just parched and I took a drink of my water bottle but then everything burned and I saw a figure in my room and then I was dead and it was boring because I couldn’t sleep but my mom didn’t find my body for a couple hours.”

Veronica looked at her in shock and gulped a little, frightened by the details of the rest of her night. It had always been very clear that David was a massive dick but to actually hear about him trying to convince a clearly unwilling Heather to fuck him, or the fact that he brought a friend who thought he was going to sleep with her. JD seemed to pick up on her discomfort and tightened his grip around her shoulders. There was no point being upset right now regardless of her feelings about being offered up to some guy she had never even seen, Heather had suffered enough without Veronica having to do anything to add to it.

“Alright, but you have no idea what the figure looked like? Do you have an idea of the shape so we could narrow it down a little? It would be nice if we knew who it wasn’t based on size,” Veronica figured that if they thought about it there couldn’t be that many suspects. The way that they had overheard her dad talking they could be pretty sure that it wasn’t her, and Veronica didn’t think that one of the Heathers would have a motive or would tell the entire school about their problems. Luckily, she knew she could for sure trust JD with this because they were together at the time it had happened, so she wouldn’t have to worry about him or try to deal with this on her own.

“I actually just made out a head and then motion and it was so blurry it was almost indistinguishable, but if I had to guess it was shorter and slim, but that could be way off base. It was hard to see anything or focus when everything hurt and I was beginning to see spots,” Heather shrugged, the last part a little pointed at them, and Veronica let herself feel bad for making her relive her death.

JD stood up suddenly and looked like he had something he wanted to say that would be unpleasant, but Veronica had a feeling that if JD was going to say it at all that it would be important. “Listen, I hate to ask this, and I want you to understand I don’t mean to question you or come off as though I don’t believe you, but are you sure that you didn’t accidentally drink the drain cleaner? I don’t know where the note would have come from but there is a small chance that this isn’t actually murder, right?”

“Wow, you’re almost as dumb as Heather,” Veronica wanted to protest, both to stand up for McNamara and say that JD is one of the smartest people she knows, but Heather had already shot her a withering glare, “First, someone would have had to write the note immediately after I died because I came to pretty soon after and my body was set up with the note written beside me. Secondly, the only reason someone would write that nasty of a note would be if they had a real vendetta against me, and I literally cannot see a reason that someone would find me dead and then write a suicide note. Lastly, how the fuck would drain cleaner end up in my water bottle accidentally? It wasn’t a small bit, the entire fucking bottle was full. If you are going to be so dense, I will find someone else to help me,” Heather looked like she was fuming at the idea of JD trying to oppose her. On one hand, Veronica understood that she was not used to being talked back to but the two of them were trying to help her so she needed to chill.

“Sorry, I just had to ask. Besides, I wouldn’t go to anyone else when everyone is a suspect. Veronica and I were together so we both know it wasn’t either of us, so you can decide to trust that or go out and find someone with no alibi who gives you their word. Everyone here seems to have an agenda, I don’t understand what kind of town my mom grew up in.”

Veronica laughed a little at JD’s teasing smirk, but Heather looked properly disgruntled, offended that anyone would talk rudely about their shithole of a town. JD put his hand up as soon as she opened her mouth so that another argument wouldn’t inevitably start.

“So, we need to figure this out, as JD said right now it could be literally anyone so that doesn’t exactly give us a place to start. If we look at the note itself, it was done fairly well in a way that almost no one would be able to pick up on, so I’m going to guess that this person has at least a little practise in forgery and probably found a copy of something that Heather wrote for reference. That tells me that this had to have been preplanned and not a spur of the moment kind of thing. Along with that, this person would’ve had to know those secrets somehow, so it was probably someone close to you. As for the thing with your dad, do you have any idea who knew or if you told anyone?” Veronica was in a mode where nothing mattered except helping her biggest frenemy, and in a morbid way it was interesting to brainstorm different clues, like reading a good novel.

“As if I would tell anyone. Duke’s bulimia was known by half the senior class, and anyone with a braincell could figure out that you wrote the note for Martha Dumptruck. Of course, the Betty Finn prank was lesser known but it wouldn’t have been that difficult to find out about it and once again put two and two together. Mac’s sexuality was a deep secret though, I thought that only I knew. I suppose someone could’ve seen us that night at the party when she kissed me, but the thing with my dad baffles me. The person would’ve had to be paying very close attention to find that out. I can’t think of anyway that someone who wasn’t popular could get close enough to watch to find that,” Heather shrugged and sat down. It was a little freaking watching her move, it was graceful and like she was swimming through the air. Veronica was trying hard not to stare but there was something almost hypnotizing about the power the blonde seemed to hold.

“Right, but there isn’t a lot of kids in the inner circle, but I’m having a very hard time seeing either of the Heathers doing this, so I don’t think it could be one of them.”

Heather rolled her eyes and leaned back, letting her hair fall behind her in a way that seemed effortless but looked beautiful, “They aren’t smart enough to pull something like this off. Besides, they worship the ground I walk on, so they would never turn their backs on me and try to pull something like this off.”

JD laughed but quickly began coughing, obviously to cover it up. Veronica was relieved that he was at least pretending to try and get along with Heather, as this would be a nightmare if the two spent the entire time fighting or trying to undermine each other.

“Alright, so it has to be someone close enough to you, and it will have been in motion for a long time. Everyone hates you to an extent out of jealousy or because you were a bitch, but the only person bold enough to be open about her dislike with any real standing is Courtney, but even then she’s kind of irrelevant and wouldn’t have anything to gain from you dying. I guess we’ll see how people react to the news and who rises to power in your ashes. If there’s anyone who’s a little fishy that seems ready to react perfectly to this news, we can put them on the list. For now I guess everyone is a suspect and we can’t do much,” Veronica sighed and felt put out. Obviously they couldn’t just expect to solve it in one sitting but she wished they had actually managed to make some real progress. “At least you being invisible actually helps our case. You can lurk around so if it was more than one person and we can find someone talking about it we can find evidence to bring to the cops. I need to warn you, people are going to talk shit about you at school. You can’t hurt them and the note displays a heartless bitch, so people will be happy to be able to finally speak their mind. I know you’re in some weird denial but as a former loser, I can tell you that you were feared rather than liked.”

Heather actually started to laugh, “Oh, Veronica. Wouldn’t you rather be feared and respected than walked all over? Besides, I know those fake bitches are going to go behind my back and ruin my memory, but I don’t care because as soon as we tell everyone the truth, I’ll be the tragic heroin who died much too early and deserves so much more than what I got. People might even make movies about my life and I will be more eternal than any of you.”

JD mumbled something that Veronica couldn’t quite hear but she heard the word dead, so she inferred that it was probably a jab at the fact that Heather was dead while they were at least still alive. It was much easier to leave it rather than fan the flames so Veronica just stood up and looked at the two of them with a determined expression.

“Let’s go get slushies, I think we deserve them after this day.”

Heather began to whine but JD cut her off with a huge grin, “I think that is the best news I’ve heard all day.”

“That’s fucking rude, you know I don’t think I can actually eat or drink anything anymore, which sucks because I finally don’t have to worry about watching what I eat because I don’t think dead girls can gain weight,” Heather looked at them almost longingly and Veronica felt bad as she realized that Heather would never be able to have another teen romance, never be able to fall in love or get married or have kids.

“Well, why don’t we try anyways? I’ll let you have mine if that’s the case and JD can give me a couple sips of his,” Veronica smiled at the girl, who actually looked appreciative at the effort she was making.

\------------time skip woooooo---------------

“Mom, I’m alright,” Veronica looked at her mother who was more devastated about Heather Chandler’s death than appropriate. It was no secret that her mom lived vicariously through her, so as much as she worried about the world of popular girls, she wanted nothing more for Veronica than to be one of them.

After a day out with JD and Heather that involved slushie drinking, swings and wandering around town aimlessly, Veronica had told the two that it was time for her to go home. Heather looked a little upset, obviously not sure of what to do while JD and Veronica were living the lives they still had, so Veronica suggested that she try and connect with the spirit world to find any hints that would lead her towards the true identity of her killer. JD had also looked a little bummed but Veronica thought that was probably because he didn’t want to say goodbye and have to explain to his mother that he was out with a girl all day. As soon as Veronica got home, her mother had pulled her into a hug and began to ramble about how worried she had been and then she had started asking questions about how she was coping with Heather’s death.

It occurred to Veronica that she would have to appear devastated by the loss of her friend, but it was odd when she had just spent hours with the girl. Death had managed to help Heather be more carefree and not worry so much about messing up or being lame, so it was almost as though she was more alive than she ever had been before. No one could know anything about Heather being back, not only because she would be deemed insane and put away, but also because it would ruin their investigation. If the person had any idea that Heather was around and looking for revenge they would be extra careful and it would make everyone’s lives a lot harder.

“Sweetie, your best friend is dead, you don’t have to put on a brave face. If you want to be weak, I’ll be here for you,” Veronica’s mother looked at her, the epitome of a caring mother and Veronica had to try not to laugh. As soon anything happened it was time for her to play the part of ‘Mother of The Year’ and it got exhausting.

“Listen, Heather is probably in a better place, and they say she took her own life. I don’t think I will ever understand why she would ever do that, but it’s a reality of life that we now have to deal with. If I’m the one who was actually friends with her and I can hold it together, why can’t you?” Veronica questioned, feeling bad when she saw her mothers face fall. It wasn’t like she meant to be cruel, she just wanted to be able to go do homework and fall asleep so she could forget everything that was going on, even if just for eight hours.

Veronica’s mother kissed her forehead and nodded, running a hand through her hair. It was nice to have a little comfort from her mother, even though the tragedy wasn’t as real for her yet as her mother was led to believe.

As she made her way upstairs, she allowed herself to fully embrace what this future would mean for Heather. In the best case scenario, they find out what happened and Heather could pass over like she was supposed to, ready to face what comes next. The worst case would be that they would never find out the truth, and Veronica had no idea what would happen then. It was scary to think that she was only 17 and yet something this important was being put on her shoulders.

The thing that had been the most interesting to her was the way JD reacted to seeing Heather in this new light, and she understood why. It was strange for her as well even though she had seem flashes of Heather’s true personality before, but to an outsider it would be a total turnaround to see a crass girl with the mouth of a sailor in the place of Heather Chandler.

It was going to be scary at school, Veronica already knew that as she would have to deal with Heather around watching as everyone stomped all over her memory. JD and Heather could avoid the issue but the note had not shone a very nice light on Heather.

Pushing everything to the back of her mind, Veronica did her homework dutifully, even though she probably could’ve gotten away with not doing it and blaming it on grief. As soon as she was done, she made the decision to call Heather McNamara, as she would probably need the most support.

Veronica picked up the blue phone that she had begged her mother to buy her and dialed McNamara’s number, Chandler had insisted they all had each others numbers memorized. It only took two rings before she heard an uncharacteristically sombre voice, “Hello?”

“Hi, Heather. It’s Veronica, and I was just calling to see how you’re doing. I figured you might want someone to talk to, and I think I could use someone as well,” Veronica tried to make her voice sound as calm as possible, not wanting to frighten the other girl.

“You’re still talking to me?” The voice asked pitifully and Veronica realized that she was probably the first person to check on McNamara all day.

Her heart filled with sadness as she thought about how horrible school would be for the girl who was forcibly outed by a mystery person posing as her best friend, “Of course I am, but more importantly I’m listening. If you need to get anything out, just let me know.”

There was a long pause on the other line, a sniffle, and then Heather began to talk, each word filling Veronica with more and more empathy. “I just don’t understand. Heather was so strong, I can’t see her doing that to herself, and the things she wrote in that note. I know everyone thinks I’m dumb, but I notice things, and I noticed that Heather wasn’t always cruel. I don’t know how she could do something like this, something so spite filled. Did I do something wrong? I didn’t want to hurt her, and I know we fought sometimes but I truly did love her. I love you, and I even love Duke even though she laughed at me when I called her and then she hung up. I feel even worse because I think I might hate Heather Chandler, and I don’t know if she deserves that.”

“No, Heather, do not feel guilty,” Veronica thought about how much it would hurt Heather Chandler to hear all of this, to know that even if she didn’t do it on purpose, she indirectly hurt McNamara in such a real way. “Duke loves you too, so do I, so did Heather, and just because Duke is being awful doesn’t mean that she won’t realize that later. I promise you that this wasn’t anything you did, you couldn’t have stopped it, and you are not dumb. You are so bright in so many ways and we all love you.”

There was the sound of faint sobs and Veronica felt bad for a minute, “Sorry, I just, thank you so much. I needed this V. You’re such a good friend.”

“Of course, Heather, you’re a good friend too,” Veronica was smiling, feeling a little relieved. There was a few moments of happy silence before there was muffled shouting through the phone.

“I think I have to say good night, my mother is upset about the whole thing and she’s telling me to go to bed, and I don’t think I should argue. Thank you again for helping me.”

“Alright, night Heather. I’ll see you at the normal spot tomorrow, alright?” There was a noise of agreement and then the line went dead. Despite the tears, the conversation did leave Veronica feeling a lot better about the whole situation and she was ready to go to bed.

As soon as her head hit the pillow, Veronica was out like a light, which was probably a good thing considering the shit-storm that would be the next day at school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need to say that I am in love with Heather McNamara, she is too sweet and good for this world. Anyways, next chapter will be next friday, so stay tuned! Let me know any thoughts or criticism and have a great week!

**Author's Note:**

> There you have it! I promise it gets more interesting next chapter. That might be out Friday, and then I think I'll try to have a consistent upload schedule from there. I was pretty excited about this so I wanted to upload the prologue thing as soon as possible. Thank you for reading and leave any comments/tips below :)


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